Lessons from Connecticut's casino experience

When Massachusetts first looked at allowing casino gambling, officials pointed to Connecticut as evidence of their success in generating revenue.

Lindsay Corcoran/Daily News staff

When Massachusetts first looked at allowing casino gambling, officials pointed to Connecticut as evidence of their success in generating revenue.

Now, with a casino proposed in Milford, opponents are pointing to the casino towns in Connecticut as examples of what could go wrong here.

Milford is being eyed by Foxwoods, in partnership with Colorado-developer David Nunes and Warner Gaming, for a possible $1 billion casino development.

Foxwoods initially opened its resort-casino in Ledyard, Conn., in 1992 on Mashantucket Pequot Indian tribal land. They later expanded their operation and they now operate one of the largest casinos in the world. Mohegan Sun opened in Montville, Conn., in 1996.

The response from the two towns to the casinos varied considerably.

In Ledyard, where the town had no say in the casino, Mayor John Rodolico said the relationship between the casino and town is just starting to get on good terms.

Montville Mayor Ronald McDaniel said there have been very few negative effects from Mohegan Sun, which he noted “learned many lessons” from how Foxwoods opened.

Bob Steel, a former congressman who represented eastern Connecticut, said the entire region changed when casinos came to the area.

“They are an overwhelming presence in the area,” Steel said. “From traffic to schools being concerned about a gambling culture, I think it runs the whole gamut.”

Overall, these Connecticut towns had a much different experience than Milford will likely see because their casinos were built on tribal land.

Neither town gained much revenue from the developments since tribal land is tax-exempt and no host agreement was required. Also, the state divvies up the 25 percent of the slot machine revenue it receives from the casinos among all the cities and towns across the state, regardless of proximity to the casinos.

While officials in the host and surrounding towns acknowledged many negative effects to their communities, most also said there could be big benefits if Milford plays their cards right.

There are a variety of areas where, whether Connecticut officials had a positive or negative feeling about the casinos, everyone agreed there have been major impacts.

Traffic

“The most immediate effect was the increase of traffic on (Ledyard’s) roads,” Rodolico, the mayor, said. “They’ve had tens of thousands of people going there from the day they opened.”

While the majority of the traffic runs through ramps created specifically for the casinos, Rodolico said they still see an impact on their local roads.

“For people coming from the west, the best way to get to the casino is to cut through local roads,” he said. He noted this has caused serious deterioration on old farm roads not used to the commercial traffic.

While the town does not receive regular compensation from the casino to repair and maintain roads, Foxwoods did partner with them this year to complete a bridge rehabilitation project this past year.

Norwich City Manager Alan Bergren also noted a significant traffic increase in his city.

“Route 2 is a major thoroughfare through the city,” Bergren said. “Late in the evening, traffic wouldn’t be a problem at all. Now, traffic is 24/7, it’s constant.”

Norwich, located about 8 miles from the casinos, has seen many effects from them and, according to a 2009 casino impact study done by the state, has seen an estimated $1 million to $2.5 million a year in casino-related expenses.

Along with the increased traffic comes more pressure on the police and ambulance services in the area.

“Our police force has expanded by about 25 percent since the casinos opened, which is directly a result of increased traffic,” said Rodolico.

He also noted that before the casinos opened, the city ambulance service was running about 300 responses a year and ambulances would last for 15 to 20 years. Now, the ambulance service responds to upwards of 1,000 calls a year and the life expectancy of ambulances has gone down by about a third.

Crime

Police near the casinos are responding to much more than just traffic concerns.

The state police provide law enforcement coverage to both casinos.

“You can think of a casino as a small city,” said Connecticut State Police spokesman Lt. Jay Paul Vance. “Everything you experience in a small city is what we experience at the casinos.”

Vance said they see everything from minor thefts and assaults to money laundering and counterfeit bills.

“Interesting enough, it’s not overwhelming,” Vance said. “When you look at the thousands of people going in and out every day and see a handful of crimes.”

Vance did note a spike in drunk driving arrests and crashes since the casinos opened.

According to the 2009 casino impact study, drunk driving arrests have doubled in Norwich since 1992 and roughly 20 percent of the drunk drivers arrested in Montville, Ledyard and North Stonington said their last drink was at a casino.

The Montville mayor said the crime in his town has increased slightly, but he hasn’t seen any major crimes as a result of the casino.

“Gaming does attract people whose motives are not always good,” said Bergren, noting Norwich has seen increased drug use and prostitution within the city. “Our police department has been struggling to keep up with those situations we never experienced before.”

Housing

Along with the casinos came an influx of service workers from depressed areas in other states and from other countries.

Ledyard and Montville officials said these workers often found it difficult to afford housing in their towns with the low-paying casino jobs.

“(Norwich) ended up providing a lot of housing for their employees,” Bergren said.

Bergren said the city population grew by 12 percent in the last decade. He said without the casinos, the population would have likely decreased as manufacturing jobs left the area.

“We’ve run into a lot of situations where single-family homes are turned into a boarding house and you see a lot of code violations,” Bergren said.

In 2007, the city even had to create the position of "blight officer" to enforce housing codes, according to the 2009 state casino impact study.

While some housing issues have come with the influx of workers, Bergren said these workers did boost the area apartment market.

McDaniel also said Montville would have had a lot more empty housing if it weren’t for the casino employees.

Schools

With the influx of service workers into these Connecticut communities, the schools have noticed an increase in non-English speaking students.

Norwich Public School administrators identified on a yearly basis nearly $2 million in casino-related costs, according to the 2009 casino impact study. The district now teaches to students speaking more than 30 languages throughout the school system.

“There were never 30 languages before. … That’s clearly been because of the casinos,” said Norwich Superintendent of Schools Abby Doliver. “It puts an additional burden in terms of how we meet the needs of all these students and their families.”

Rodolico said the Ledyard school system has also seen an increase in the number of languages within the schools as a result of the service workers moving into the area.

Doliver also said there has been an increase in students who qualify for free or reduced lunch, which is as high as 80 percent.

“I’m not blaming the casinos, but it may be attributable to them. … A lot of the jobs are service jobs and not high-paying,” Doliver said.

Local Economy

The effect of the casinos on the local economy is a bit of a mixed bag, according to officials in the area.

The casinos opened in Connecticut when the region was facing an economic downturn from defense-spending cuts that led to the closure of factories that were major employers in the area.

“They have created some 20,000 jobs and everyone appreciates the jobs and recognizes that upside,” Steel, the former Congressman, said of the region during the early '90s.

“It took some of the pressure off of unemployment,” Rodolico said.

However, many officials note that while the jobs were helpful, they didn’t replace the high-paying manufacturing jobs lost in the area.

The average salary in the region dropped from $67,000 to $33,000 from 1993 to 2003, as the region lost 10,000 manufacturing jobs and gained 20,000 casino service jobs, according to the 2009 state casino impact study.

“I think they picked up a lot of the slack,” Bergren said. “It provided employment when people needed it, but obviously we’re interested in getting our residents better-paying jobs.”

Bergren and McDaniel credited these new workers with putting some money back into the local economy as they stop and buy coffee on their way to work or groceries on the way home.

The Ledyard mayor said, however, that the overall effect on local businesses was negative.

“The problem is that casinos are self-contained, they are built to provide all of the needs,” Rodolico said. “If anything, it has been a struggle because of the competition provided by the casinos.”

Bergren said Norwich has also seen some financial benefits since Mohegan agreed to partner with the city on an economic development fund. The tribe and the town both place anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 in the fund that goes to fund festivals, job initiatives and more.

So, what advice did these officials have for Milford? Get a seat at the table.

Many of the casino-area officials said they would have been much more receptive to the idea of a casino if they were able to see benefits from it.

Montville’s mayor noted his town receives $600,000 every year from Mohegan Sun to perform capital projects.

McDaniel advised Milford to try to make the best deal for the town.

“Milford is lucky it can make sure it gets what it wants without sacrificing its rights. It can be a nice payday,” McDaniel said.

Other officials acknowledged the tax benefits of a casino complex would be huge if the land weren’t tax exempt.

“In any other normal situation, it would be a huge windfall for the town,” said Rodolico.

Others said regardless of the benefits, they wouldn’t advise Milford to accept a casino.

“I’d vote no,” said Linda Davis of the Ledyard Town Council. “It’ll change your town forever and not necessarily in a good way.”